Is it possible that virtual learning can be more effective and not just a compromise when budgets get cut? When might virtual learning actually be advantageous? Here’s a list of potential winners – opportunities to accomplish more in a virtual setting than in the traditional classroom.

Go virtual to engage 500 people in a collaborative learning event, not just a roomful of 25.

Go virtual to involve people in multiple locations at the same time.

Go virtual to learn about cultural differences and similarities.

Go virtual to give participants time to collect information from their work places or work groups to bring into the training environment.

Go virtual to integrate learning with on the job experience over a period of time.

Go virtual to provide time to apply action research techniques, share experiences and jointly problem-solve.

Go virtual to have thousands of employees hearing the same message from the CEO at the same time, talk about it and provide feedback.

Go virtual to extend the reach and impact of face-to-face learning events in a blended solution.

When you look at it through this lens, transitioning from traditional learning methods to ones that work in the virtual world looks less like a necessary evil and more like an exciting opportunity.

We have just published a white paper entitled Designing Interactive Webinars to add to our webinar and article series on collaborative learning in the virtual workplace. In it we identify 8 design principles that trainers can use to transition classroom-based workshops into high impact distance learning experiences. As always we welcome your feedback.